U.S. Department of Justice
United States Attorney
Eastern District of Pennsylvania
615 Chestnut Street
Suite 1250
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19106-4476
(215) 861-8200
For Immediate Release July 21, 2008
FORMER TELEVISION NEWS ANCHOR CHARGED WITH
COMPUTER CRIME
PHILADELPHIA - Acting United States Attorney Laurie Magid today announced the filing
of an Information1 against Lawrence Mendte, a former employee of KYW-TV, charging him with
a felony count of intentionally accessing a protected computer without authorization and thereby
obtaining information. Joining Magid in today’s announcement was FBI Special Agent-in-Charge
Janice Fedarcyk.
“People expect that e-mail in a password protected, personal e-mail account is private,” said
Acting U.S. Attorney Laurie Magid. “If you think of it in the context of another era, it’s no different
that someone stealing your locked briefcase, containing confidential information from your lawyer,
prying it open, and helping themselves to the contents. The mere accessing and reading of privileged
information is criminal. This case, however, went well beyond just reading someone’s email. The
defendant here engaged in a systematic pattern of intrusion that included not a dozen incidents, not
a hundred incidents, but more than five hundred separate intrusions. ”
"Our Email is private, just like our telephone conversations and our mail. Our expectation
of privacy for e-mail is even higher, due to the high level of security used in transmitting Email
messages. That’s why we have passwords, to stop and prevent others from reading our most
private communications and using them against us."
According to the information, Mendte illegally gained access to the personal email
accounts of former colleague Alycia Lane for more than two years. Between January 1, 2008 and
May 26, 2008, he logged into Lane’s personal accounts approximately 537 times, from his home
computer, from a computer at his vacation home, and from a computer at his place of work. In
doing so, the information alleges, Mendte accessed private communications between the victim
and others, including attorney-client privileged information, relating to both civil and criminal
litigation in which Lane was involved. Mendte then allegedly repeatedly shared information
regarding the contents of the private e-mail communications with a newspaper reporter.
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An Indictment or Information is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until
proven guilty.
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July 21, 2008
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INFORMATION REGARDING THE DEFENDANT
NAME ADDRESS AGE OR DATE OF BIRTH
Lawrence Mendte Philadelphia, PA 51
If convicted, the defendant faces a maximum possible sentence of 5 years in prison.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation Cyber Squad and is
being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael L. Levy.
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY'S OFFICE Contact: PATTY HARTMAN
EASTERN DISTRICT, PENNSYLVANIA Media Contact
Suite 1250, 615 Chestnut Street 215-861-8525
Philadelphia, PA 19106
COPIES OF NEWS MEMOS AND RELATED DOCUMENTS CAN ALSO BE FOUND AT
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/pae
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